Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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502. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has spoken with the Irish Ambassador to Vietnam to date in 2022 [37367/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Although I have not had a meeting so far in 2022 with Ambassador in Vietnam, I am kept fully informed of the Embassy's work by officials in my Department.

In April, I was pleased to host the first in-person gathering of our Heads of Mission and senior management since the onset of COVID-19. During the Conference I engaged with Ireland's Ambassadors and Consuls General from around the world. Ireland's Ambassador in Vietnam participated in the Conference.

Ireland’s Embassy in Vietnam maintains continuous communication with Department of Foreign Affairs headquarters and senior officials.

In line with established Department of Foreign Affairs reporting procedures, the Ambassador and Embassy team provide regular political and economic reports with respect to Vietnam and countries of secondary accreditation. These are in addition to frequent expenditure and operational reports.

Ireland and Vietnam maintain regular high level political contact. The Taoiseach met with President Phuc en marge of the UNGA in New York in September 2021 and with Prime Minister Chinh at the COP Summit in Glasgow in November 2021. The Minister of State with responsibility for Disability visited Vietnam in June and engaged with projects and programmes funded by the Irish Government. The Minister of State for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora conducted a working visit to Vietnam in early July, prepared by the Embassy. The visit included meetings with the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Minister for Ethnic Minority Affairs, as well as a range of meetings concerning Ireland’s development co-operation programme.